Women in Structural Engineering (WiSE)

The Structural Engineers Association of Illinois’ statement of purpose is: To advance and advocate excellence in structural engineering and to aid in safeguarding the public. Connecting professionals in a mutual learning environment is one of the vehicles SEAOI uses to advance excellence in the field of engineering. SEAOI's Women in Structural Engineering (WiSE) supports that mission by providing a forum for networking in the context of educating our members.

We focus on the unquantifiable aspect of networking for women in the structural engineering community. Several years ago, the comment was made by a fellow female SEAOI member: “There are so few women in our corner of the industry. Why don’t we know all of them?” From that conversation, we devised a mission to provide a setting for women to get to know one another, create a network, and form mentorship relationships. With the increasing success of our events, we are turning our focus to hosting speakers with different backgrounds, experience, and expertise in skills we all need to improve upon while still providing a forum for networking.

Dream Big has been postponed. We will update this space when we have further information.

Inspiring Wonder: Dream Big

We're showing the movie "Dream Big" on March 16, 2018. The film takes a journey of discovery from the world’s tallest building to a bridge higher than the clouds. In addition, participants ages K-12 will enjoy STEM demonstrations and a Lego Earthquake Shake Table. Registration information will be coming soon, so check back often.

WiSE Book Club

Interested in upping your game by reading your way to new ideas? Join the WiSE book club! We read business and career-focused books and discuss over a lunch hour. This event is open to anyone interested – ALL are welcome!

At our recent September 2018 meeting, we read and discussed of Do More Great Work. by Michael Bungay Stanier. We discussed if we really can "stop the busywork and start the work that matters" as this book promises.

OUTREACH

Model Builders Needed!

SEAOI is urgently looking for volunteers to build models to use at events promoting awareness of structural engineering among school-age children.

Using hands-on, interactive models is a fun and effective way to present structural engineering concepts and systems to young students, their parents, and the general public that attend these type of events. While allowing for interactive exploration, some models are very simple, others are more complex.

As we expand our library of models, we are looking for volunteers to create new models or recreate and enhance some of the existing models that we have used over the years. These models are the centerpiece of our engagement with the students and a means to spark their imagination and curiosity while providing tidbits of education.

You can build the model(s) by yourself or together with a group of your friends or co-workers. Either way your help is greatly appreciated.

If you can help or would like to learn more about this effort, please contact SEAOI. We would love to tell you more about it and share additional information on possible model ideas and themes as well as tips and photos of existing models and of previous events (showing the models in use).

Contact Us

SEAOI
134 N. LaSalle, Suite 1910
Chicago, IL 60602
312.726.4165

The SEAOI office will be closed on the following dates in 2019:

Tuesday, January 1 - New Year’s Day
Monday, February 18 - President’s Day
Monday, May 27 - Memorial Day
Thursday, July 4 - Independence Day
Monday, September 2 - Labor Day
Thursday, November 28 - Thanksgiving
Friday, November 29 - Thanksgiving
Tuesday, December 24 - Christmas Eve
Wednesday, December 25 - Christmas Day

Please use the form at the bottom of the page to contact us, or reach out to a staff member directly.